101st hunger games
by Bigpapi1234
Summary: The second rebellion failed. The victors were killed, and the games continued. Now its the 101st hunger games and 48 tributes from 12 districts compete against each other, with only two being able to come out alive.
1. Chapter 1

Quick note:

The second rebellion failed. The victors were all killed. And the 75th hunger games were redone, with the twist of 96 tributes, instead of 24.

After those games, the capital made it a rule that all games would contain 48 tributes.

Then after the 100th hunger games with the twist that the district would have to vote on who went into the games, and that two tributes could win as long as they were from the same district. They made it a rule that two tributes from the same district could win (boy and boy, girl and girl, or a boy and a girl.)

Now its the 101st hunger games.


	2. Chapter 2

District 1 reapings.

Tessa Cladron 30 victor of the 86th hunger games

Just in time.

I arrived just in time Tessa thought. Scipio beckoned from the stage, and then once he caught her eye, pointed to the empty seat next to Rolag.

There were four of them up there.

The mayor, Browning something, she didn't remember his name.

and then her fellow victors, Rolag, victor of the 83rd hunger games, three years before her, sat closest to her empty seat, he was the truest career among the victors from 1, he had killed 12 in his games, slaughtered them, there was nobody else who really had a chance in his games, then to the left of him was Silka, Tessa's mentor, as well as Rolag's, she was the oldest surviving victor from district 1, at only 42, because of the victors purge.

After the second rebellion, all the victors had been killed, a good amount had perished in the quarter quell, but still there were survivors. and the capitol had killed them. killed them all.

Tessa shook herself out of her thoughts and took her seat. scipio winked at her.

he was the victor Tessa was closest with, despite being the outsider in their little group of mentors, Her with her 7 in training, and her four kills in the games. she wasn't a career, not by longshot, but her years mentoring she was expected to mentor her tributes as career tributes, and she had succeeded, once with scipio, he had won 8 years ago, as a 17 year old, he never needed anything in the arena, on account of his gorgeous looks, he won in a week, without even suffering an injury.

Tessa turned her attention to the mayor, he was finishing up his speech, and the district 1 escort took the stage, Avilia, this was her second year, after perri had quit after four years.

Avilia, in her high heels, teetered towards the girls bowl.

And selected a name

"Lassie namo"

A tall girl emerged from the 16 year old section but immediately stopped when the magic words rang out

"I volunteer"

A girl stepped out of the 18 year old section.

She was average height, on the leaner side, but healthy and strong looking.

Tessa tossed a look at Silka and she nodded.

this girl was a career.

Avilia called down to the girl

"and your name?"

"Bianca Kasi"

Avilia turned to the girl who had been originally reaped and asked,

"do you let her take your place?"

The girl nodded and stepped back into the 16 year old section while the other girl whooped and ran to the stage.

Avilia smiled at her as she took her place, and then walked towards the boys ball.

"Hu-" she starts

"I volunteer" a voice shouts out, and a tall boy emerges from the 18 year old section.

Avilia finishes the name "Hugh vincent"

A boy from the 13 year old section steps out and says "he can take my place".

The boy, like Bianca before him, shouts out in joy, and rushes towards the stage.

Avilia walks over to him "your name?"

"Cavin geon" Cavin shouts out.

Tessa again look towards Silka, but its Rolag who answers, he, along with scipio in tow, ran the career academy for boys. "hes one of us" rolag answers.

One of them more like Tessa thinks, but she turns her attention back to the stage as Avilia walks back over to the Girls bowl, while Cavin stands next to Bianca.

Avilia grabs a slip of paper, fumbling with it slightly, but then pulls it out.

"Fiona Brittny."

The 15 year section parted around a girl with medium length brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes.

she stands like a deer caught in the headlights waiting, waiting for somebody to call out the magic words. but nobody did.

She looks a lot like me at my first reaping Tessa thinks.

Brown hair, blue eyes, and definitely not a career.

Tessa picture her three fellow tributes, Felip, tall, strong brown haired, great with spears, Silka's crown jewel at the academy. dead, dead at the bloodbath, his skull crushed by a boy from 11.

Then Gerri, she survived a bit longer, until day three, but then she, like the rest of the career pack, were crushed in an avalanche while tessa watched from her perch in a tree.

She had thought about helping ehr, as she called out, buried up to her waist in the rocks.

but no, she sat in her tree as the mutts found her first, and ate her. ate her alive.

Then finally, the last of the quartet, was her ally, james, he like her, was not a career, but he, unlike her, wasn't smart enough to know when to break of the alliance. How Tessa poisoned him, and there two allies, the last boy and girl from 7.

all of them had died within minutes, but james had survived longer. long enough to stare at me, accusingly as he and the other two died.

tessa shook herself out of her games, as fiona took her place, trying to plaster a smile on her face, but ruining the image slightly as her whole body trembled.

Cavin and Bianca ignored her completely.

Then the last name was called out.

"Max Seera".

The 17 year old section parted around a boy wearing tattered blue jeans, and a grey hoodie, his long brown hair spilled over into his face but he flipped to the side as he walked forward confidently, but his eyes betrayed him, he was looking around, looking around desperately for a way out. and not finding any. nobody volunteered.

He took the stage shaking hands with his three companions.

I looked toward Rolag, but he shook his head. no, max was not a career.

The four tributes were lead toward the justice building for their final goodbyes, while us four stood on stage.

"So" Silka says "who goes first this year?"

"my turn" Rolag says confidently

"I dont know rolly" says Scipio, using his pet nickname that rolag hated so much "you went first last year, and I went the year before-"

"no-" Rolag interrupts but Silka gets there first.

"me first, then Rolag, then Scipio, then Tessa.

"ok then" Rolag replies "who do you want?"

"the girl"

"Fiona?" Scipio asks

"no idiot, Bianca, my student."

"I'll take Cavin then" says Rolag "Scipio?"

"max, is he trained?"

"no, not really" says Rolag, "he came occasionally, with friends, just to mess around, he probably didn't learn a single thing."

"and the girl?"

"no" says Silka "same as max, never anything serious."

"i'll take the boy then." says Scipio

"and then me and fiona." Tessa replies.

Fiona Brittny 15 district 1.

She wasn't trained.

Never had wanted to really, Binaca thought, as her parents and Brothers entered the room.

She had just never seen the point, The amount of Careers are fallen off dramatically, so she was told, since the second rebellion. she just didnt see the point to train. but now she did.

Her little brothers reached her first, and she pulled them into a hug.

"I'll come back for you" she said, burying her face in there messy hair "I promise"

Her mom drew her into a hug, tightly, and started crying, sobbing into her shoulder, fiona patted her back, and then in turn hugged her older brother, 19, his first year safe from the reaping, and last of all her father, every time repeating the same passage.

"I'll come back for you, I promise."

Max Serva 17 District 1.

He wasn't trained.

He had gone occasionally, sure, but never seriously, never expecting to get reaped, and now here he was wishing, wishing he had trained to kill people. innocent people. because thats all this was. Kill or be killed. take a life or your own will be taken.

And he knew, deep down, he couldn't kill, wouldnt kill.

And They had to accept that.

His mom and sister walked into the room, his father closing the door behind them.

"so" said his Father "you regret not listening now?"

"Michael" his mother interjected "leave the boy be, he never wanted to train, nor did you if i can remind you so".

"Because-" His father started.

Max had heard the argument a thousand times, his father couldn't train because he was too busy fighting for this countries life, fighting against the rebels who were trying to take there countries sanity.

His mom shook his father off, and pointed towards the door.

his father left, not casting a backwards glance towards max.

"I'm sorry about him" His mom started "He's just worried-"

"no hes not" Max replied "He's just mad he finally has a chance to get a victor in the family, and hes never even trained for it!"

He was yelling. At his mother, and his sister, while his real anger was directed towards the capital. the capital with there nice food and fancy clothing, while here in the districts they had to, every year, send four of their children off to die.

"I'm sorry" max said "i'm not angry at you, its, its them I hate for this".

They all knew who them was.

His mother hugged him tightly, and then his sister. the peacekeepers came in and took them.

and then he was alone.

Bianca Kasi 18 district 1

She had trained.

She had trained and trained and trained for this moment. and it was finally here.

Parents, Siblings, Friends, and cousins all paraded through the room, congratulating her on getting in. wishing her good luck. but they had left now and Bianca was alone.

She snorted. Good luck. Like she would need good luck, it wasn't luck that got you through the games, it was skill, and in most cases, that skill you needed was combat skills, or looks, which was also a skill.

And in her opinion, she had both. In abundance. Sure there would be other career, Like Cavin for instance, he could be an obstacle, he was skilled, handsome, and mad. He once killed a boy in training, taking their sparring too far, he had stabbed the boy, in the shoulder, and then in the leg. and then in the stomach.

Rolag had covered it up, said the boy was killed in an accident.

but it still had spread throughout the academy, that Cavin had killed someone. he was ready for the games, that was for sure.

And she would be too.

Cavin Geon 18 district 1

He had trained.

He had trained all his life for this moment, this chance.

A chance to win the games.

And he had a better chance than anybody else.

He had Trained, sure but so had the other careers, and even some outer district tributes, as he had heard from rolag himself that small centers had opened in 6, 7 and 8.

They had produced only three victors.

Harris, from district 7, Leann from district 8. And Feroze from 6. And you could see how well she turned out.

But even so, even if they had trained, none of them had killed.

And he had killed.

The boy, sveden, he crossed him one too many times.

And he had showed him that he wasn't to be crossed.

Sure he hadn't meant to really kill him, just to injure him a little.

But what was the difference?

In the end it didn't matter, a kill was a kill.

And he already had one.


	3. Chapter 3

District 2 reapings.

**Bruck Jimenez 26 Victor of the 93rd hunger games**

Mason climbed the stage, and sat down heavily in his seat. He was late. And he was only the second one here.

Bruck surveyed the assembled citizens of district 2, those ages 12 - 18 were in a roped off area by age. the younger children and those over 19 were surrounding them.

Bruck saw Bulla walking quickly through the crowd, she, unlike him, had been mentored by Mason, there first victor since the rebellion.

Mason, victor of the third quarter quell, in which 96 tributes faced off against each other.

96.

And mason had won, slaughtering and slaughtering, eventually killing 18 tributes. A record.

He had mentored Alexis to victory, and then Alexis had in turn mentored him, and then the year afterward, Bulla had won, mentored by mason.

Bulla climbed up the stage and sat down in the seat next to the mayor.

Doji vector. A rather pompous man who Bruck hated, but that didn't matter, Doji wasn't a victor. Unlike him. Unlike Bulla and Mason. And unlike Alexis.

but where was Alexis?

Then he finally spotted her, jogging through the crowd as Doji stood up to make his speech.

Bruck, like he always did tuned him out.

Doji had been mayor since Bruck had won. 8 years ago.

Apparently, Hero, his fellow male tribute from 2, had been his son.

Bruck hadn't killed Hero. But he wished he did. Hero had lorded over the rest of the careers, trying to become the leader of the pack that had been 12 strong.

But Hero had died the second day. Bruck only found out after he won that Hero had been killed by a 13 year old girl from 5. 13 years old. Bruck had laughed at that. Hero had been killed by a 13 year old girl and he had won, killing 6 of his fellow careers, and then 7 other tributes.

He won in 11 days. Not even two weeks.

Bruck shook himself out of his thoughts as Alexis sat down next to him, sweating from her jog.

Alexis was a strange victor, she had trained as a career, but in training only got an 8, and throughout the first two weeks she killed only two tributes.

until she murdered her remaining three allies. And then finally the last day of the games, killed the boy from 4 and was crowned victor. A careers victory, but then she washed her hands clean of the games. Didn't teach at Masons academy, unlike Bruck and Bulla, who had jumped at the opportunity. She hadn't even wanted to mentor, but the capital made her anyway.

And so here she was.

The mayor finished his speech, and then sat back down, leaving the stage open to Rissan.

The district 2 escort. He had been with them since the 75th hunger games, and had seen all of them win. He didn't look like he was going to stop soon.

He was balding but not in bad shape for a man who was 54. The thing about him was that he looked so normal, not like the rest of the capital people he had met. And Bruck respected him for that.

"Now, this year, boys first" as Rissan walked over the boys bowl, and reached his hand in.

"Declan Boton."

A boy walked out of the 16 year old section, short and rather ferrety looking, glasses balanced on the tip of his nose, long shaggy black hair.

Bruck waited, hoping that he would follow through as promised.

and then his voice rang out.

"I volunteer."

"Yes" Brock exclaimed, drawing looks from the mayor and Alexis, but Bulla and Mason shared in his joy.

Crag stepped out of the 18 year old section.

Crag was the best student Brock had had in a while. 6'6, hugely muscled and bloodthirsty, his hair cut into a short buzzcut, Crag was everything you looked for in a career.

"Do you accept?" Rissan called down to the ferrety boy, Declan.

Declan nodded his head yes several times, and then stumbled backwards into the 16 year old section.

Crag shouted out and ran towards the stage. Rissan asked him for his name and Crag shouted out "Crag Dennison."

Rissan shook his hand and then walked over to the girls bowl.

"Nesba gen"

A girl took two steps out of the 12 year old section, then fell to the ground, crying.

"I volunteer"

Loreen stepped out of the 18 year old section.

Bulla was nodding her head, Loreen was the best of the girls.

The 12 year old girl was already yelling out I accept, several times, as if she was afraid they wouldn't hear her. Two other girls stepped out of the 12 year old section and dragged Nesba gen back into place, while Loreen walked up to the stage. she had a white dress on, her long blonde hair falling down past her shoulders. Green eyes. She had clearly dressed knowing she would be going into the games.

Rissan asked for her name and she called out "Loreen Gregor."

Rissan shook her hand and then walked back towards the boys bowl.

"Tyreen Vucal"

Silence.

And then a burly boy stepped out of the 18 year old section, he was tall 6'4, had defined muscles, black hair cut into a neat buzzcut, he wasnt one of Bruck's students, but he seemed familiar.

And the Bruck remembered

A small 14 year old boy, he had always been good with throwing knives, telling Bruck he was quitting. He had to help his mom raise his siblings, something about his father dying.

Bruck arguing that he should train, he had a chance to win when he got old enough. The boy yelling that why would he train, train to have a chance to live, while he had a definite chance to live if he didn't volunteer.

The boy had walked out. And here he was all grown up.

The boy still just stood there, motionless, but nobody was volunteering.

Several peacekeepers strode towards him. but still he stood there. One of the peacekeepers grabbed his shoulder. And Tyreen spun and punched him in the helmet, the peacekeeper fell backwards, and the other two converged on him, one of them swinging a baton, Tyreen dodged it and punched the other one in the stomach, and thats when the baton caught him in the head. Tyreen collapsed and another peacekeeper walked forward and helped the one that had knocked him out onstage.

Crag and Loreen were openly laughing on stage, as Tyreen was dropped in a heap.

Rissan stared at Tyreen for a moment and then walked to the girls bowl, and pulled out the final name.

"Reena jas"

A small dark haired girl walked out of the 16 year old section, she was smiling, like her birthday had come early.

"I volunteer" A voice rang out, and a girl stepped out of the 18 year old section, I didn't recognize her, nor did I recognize Reena, but the girl was already striding towards the stage when Reena called out "I don't accept."

The other girl spun and pointed at Reena, shouting "you'll get you turn, this is mine!"

but Reena stood fast. "I dont accept."

The other girl looked like she was about to start a fight right then, but a pair of peacekeepers jumped up and escorted her back to her spot.

And Reena climbed onstage.

The tributes shook hands, with the exception of Tyreen who was still out cold.

and then they walked, or in Tyreen's case, were dragged off towards the justice building.

Mason stood up and the rest of us followed suit.

"I'll take Crag" Mason announced

Bruck nodded, fair enough, he then turned to Bulla,

"The girl, Reena, she one of your students?"

"yes" Bulla replied "shes good, quite good, but only 16, she wasn't supposed to volunteer."

"She's got spunk" Bruck replied "I like that, i'll take her."

Bulla nodded "Ok, then I get Loreen."

we all turned to Alexis, she hadn't spoke up once

"what?" she said "you guys trained them, you get to pick them, i'll take Tyreen."

Bruck turned and walked toward the car that was waiting, waiting to take them to the train.

**Tyreen Vucal 18 district 2**

this isn't what he wanted, Tyreen thought as he sat on the floor of his room, he had trained, but he never really planned on going into the games, and then once his dad died, he couldn't, he had to take care of his mom, and his sister and brother. He liked it better that way, working in the quarry had made him strong, so that would help in the games, but what he needed now was his training, training that he had all but forgot.

His mom with his siblings in two came into the room.

"Listen to me" Tyreen said before they could speak "Listen to me, I'm not going to make empty promises, I'm not going to promise im going to come home, because I can't do that, all I can do is tell you i'll try my best. dont make me say anything more."

"But you can win Tyreen" said his mom "you're strong, you have your training-"

Tyreen snorted, interrupting her.

"Mom I quit training four years ago, what good is that?"

His sister burst into tears.

Tyreen realized he was being harsh, he had to be strong, for them.

"No don't cry" he said, patting her back, "I have my training after all, I'll try my best, alright?"

I'll try my best.

But his best wasn't going to be good enough, and deep down, Tyreen knew that, and nobody could stop him.

**Reena Jas 16 district 2**

This is what she wanted. Reena thought. Into the games at last.

She ignored her parents, sitting in the corner of the room, her mom, sobbing into her dads shoulder, her dad patting her moms back.

They didn't care about her training, all they wanted was perfect little girl who would do her work, and clean her room, and be nice.

But that wasn't what Reena was. Reena wanted to kill. She wanted to win. and this was her chance. and her parents, not even her parents, nobody, could stop her.

**Crag Dennison 18 district 2**

this is what he wanted. Crag thought. They were all here, his dad, his brother, his friends from the academy, telling him good job, that they were proud of him.

This was his chance to win, win like his older brother had failed to do, he had gotten into the top 6 last year, but had been killed, by wolf mutts, pesky little wolf mutts that had overpowered his brother. He wouldn't make the same mistake. he was ready. ready to kill. and nobody could stop him.

**Loreen Gregor 18 district 2**

This is what she wanted. Her chance to strike back. For her brother.

He had died four years ago, in the top 3, killed by Lance, the eventual victor from 9.

Lance, only 15, had killed her 17 year old brother.

She was going to get back at him. She would kill the tributes from 9. All of them. If it was the last thing she did. She would make it slow, torture them. Its what her brother would have wanted.

her parents hadn't shown up, they didn't get why she wanted to go into the games, after her brother had died, they had turned their backs on the games and the capital.

she was the patriot in the family.

And they couldnt stop her.

Nobody could stop her.


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE: **Hey everybody, sorry for the late review, but the rest of the reapings will go very quickly.

Please, please, please, REVIEW!

District 3 reapings.

**Cordin Hort 18 Victor of the 99th hunger games**

They were already there.

The mayor, and the escort.

That was all. The third empty seat belonged to him.

He walked up to the stage and sat down.

The mayor leaned over and shook his hand.

He, Cordin, 18 years old, shaking hands with the mayor.

2 years ago that would have been the coolest thing ever for him.

But a lot could change in two years.

Two years ago he had been just another 16 year old in a crowd, all hoping they wouldn't get reaped. But he had. But he had won.

Not by any particular skills, Cordin had to admit, he wasn't anything special physically, wasnt even that smart compared to some people in district 3. He had won his games, basically on dumb luck.

Luck that he only had to kill three times.

Luck that there were only 4 careers in the games.

Luck that one of them had died in the bloodbath, and then two more the next day, and then the last one on day 5.

5 days in, 27 tributes left. and no careers.

That was luck to, that so many had survived that long.

Because food ran out quickly. And the tributes started starving.

By day 7, there were only 20 tributes left. but Cordin had run low on food. and thats when he killed.

Day 8, The girl from 6, stabbed in her sleep. She never woke up. He had taken her supplies and hidden in a cave.

The next day, there were 15 tributes left, by the next it had dwindled to 12.

And then the feast was announced, Cordin slept in the cornucopia, woke up, grabbed some supplies and ran off, before anyone else had even reached it.

6 tributes died that day.

The next day, two more, leaving four tributes.

And then he killed again, this time the pair from 12 had attacked them, and he fought them off and killed them. And then the cannon, signifying the girl from 5's death. He found out later she was poisoned by some berries, and that to was luck.

"Molly lastings."

Where they on to the reaping already, Cordin thought, wildly looking around, indeed they were, as a tough looking girl marched up towards the stage, looking strangely calm, she stopped once, to pull a boy into a hug, and then again in front of the head peacekeeper.

And spat on him.

Several peacekeepers surged forward, but the head one, a man named Fasko, snapped out his hand, holding them back.

And Molly marched up to the stage.

Cordin looked at her, hoping for an explanation, but none was forthcoming.

The escort, a woman named Steph shook her head slightly and then marched over towards the boys bowl and pulled out a name.

"Xavier Grace."

A tall lean boy emerged from the 17 year old section, he had messy black hair, and a smirk plastered on his face.

Cordin recognized him. He was the boy Molly had just hugged.

He too, looking strangely calm, marched up to the stage, he walked slightly past the head peacekeeper, then quickly turned and spat on him as well.

Then before anybody could react he sprang up on stage and stood next to the girl Molly.

This time Steph stared at him for a while, but when she didn't get a reaction from him, she marched off towards the girls bowl and drew out a name.

"Rose Felicity"

A small black haired girl emerged from the 13 year old section.

She looked around, half hoping somebody would volunteer, but when none was forthcoming, she walked shakily towards the stage, not pausing near the peacekeepers at all.

Thank god thought Cordin.

She stood shakily next to Xavier, who patted her back, then she began to sob.

Xavier turned away from her and faced the audience. And still she sobbed.

Steph ignored her, and seeming to just want to end these reapings as fast as she could, walked swiftly towards the boys bowl again.

"Brendan Ryan"

The 15 year old section parted to reveal two boys, both of them laughing.

Then they realized what had just happened.

They turned, there laughs sliding off of there faces quickly.

One of them turned, hugging the other, and then marched off towards the stage.

The tributes shook hands, Rose now sobbing quietly to herself, and then were marched off towards the justice building.

Shaking his head slightly, Cordin walked off towards the car waiting to bring him to the train.

**Rose Felicity 13 district 3**

She couldn't stop herself.

Rose just kept sobbing all throughout saying goodbye to her family, none of them were pretending it wasn't goodbye, they all knew it for a fact, aside from the first ever hunger games, never had there been a victor under 14.

And she knew, deep down that she wasn't going to change that.

**Xavier Grace 17 district 3**

He couldn't stop himself.

He knew spitting on Fasko wasn't going to help his chances in the games, but he couldn't stop himself.

After all, Fasko was the reason he was here in the first place.

Xavier thought back to the day he began robbing.

6 years ago, around this time, he was fast, nobody in the market could ever catch him, and nobody in the house's ever found him.

And then, when he was 14, he got caught, he had just broken into the house, it was a nice house, three stories, would have definitely been full of money or jewels.

If he had gotten that far.

he had taken two steps into the house when the girl had tackled him. Molly.

she was 13 at the time, but as tall as him, he remembered how she let him go, as long as he would let her go with him when he robbed.

At first he had regretted it, but then they grew into a team, and had never been caught, until two weeks ago. By Fasko. But he didn't want to think about that, what was the past was the past, and he wasn't going to change that.

**Molly Lastings 16 district 3**

She couldn't stop herself

Fasko was the reason she and Xavier were here, she just had too.

she would probably pay for it once the games started, but it didn't matter, she was as good as dead anyway.

All because of her stupidity.

Wanting to rob the head peacekeepers house, then tripping and falling to wake him up. Getting herself caught, the only good she had done was convincing Fasko that Xavier wasnt with her. But Xavier had insisted that he had in fact had helped her rob the house. In order to protect her. Protect her in the games.

She had initially insisted to join Xavier in the first place, and she was now paying for her wrongs. Several times over.

And nothing she could do was going to change that.

**Brendan Ryan 15 district 3**

He couldn't stop them.

His father, His mother, his sisters, his brother, and his best friend Ryan. They all paraded through. All saying the same thing. You'll come back. Or you got this. Or promise me you will come back.

All across Panem, 47 other families were saying the same thing. and yet, only one or two of them would be correct.

One or two out of 48.

Not good odds.

He was strong, he told himself, he was smart he told himself.

But deep down he knew. His chances were less than zero.

And nothing he could do was going to change that.


	5. Chapter 5

District 4 reapings.

**Kaya Reddings Victor of the 98th hunger games**

She was early she thought.

Way too early.

There were a few 12-18 year olds scattered throughout the sections, maybe around 30, no more.

And the escort. Hines, he was probably around 30, with long blonde hair that was pushed back from his face, and fell back over his neck. He was nice, unlike most of the escorts she had met, and not so, so weird.

Most of them from the capital were.

Kaya looked around, Burl was making his way slowly towards the stage, as the sections began to fill up in earnest.

Burl was an enigma.

He was district 4's first victor since the second rebellion, and the oldest surviving one.

But he wasn't like most of the other careers Kaya had met, or like she herself, who had trained as one.

He was, different.

He had won 21 years ago, as a career, he had trained, one on one at the time, as there was no real academy up yet, with his father, who had been a true patriot, losing an eye in the second rebellion, fighting for the capital.

He hadn't been very charismatic, he was almost dull when he won.

In three weeks, he had killed 12 tributes, including both of his female district partners.

And he started the career academy after he won, but it hadn't been great, rarely did there tributes even reach the top 8. Then finally Topaz came along and won the games, 11 years after his victory, but not because of Burl, Topaz had what Burl lacked, character, personality, good looks and charm, that along with skill, was a deadly combination, and Topaz used it well, racing through his games and winning in just under a week.

Burl sat down heavily next to her.

He was drunk.

Kaya smelled the alcohol on him.

The she spotted Topaz racing through the crowd, late as usual.

He had been Kaya's mentor in the 98th games. She too had the looks and charm to win over the capital, combined with her 11 in training, which was tied with Topaz for the highest district 4 had ever received, she had won over the capital, and won her games.

Topaz sat down on the other side of Kaya

"Hey K" he said, smiling "how you holding up?"

When Kaya didn't reply he leaned closer and said "nervous about Zinnia?"

Only Topaz knew her well enough to cut to the heart of the issue like that

"ye-" Kaya's voice caught in her throat

"She'll be fine" Topaz said, squeezing her shoulder "what's she now 16? she could probably win easily"

"But Topaz" Kaya replied "She's never trained, shes never wanted to, what if she gets reaped? Me mentoring her can only take her so far."

"Dont worry about it" said Topaz "The odds are in her favor."

Kaya shook her head, half smiling.

Hines stroud over to the boys bowl, Kaya hadn't realized that the speech was over.

The first name produced was a boy that Kaya didn't even hear the name of before he was volunteered for by Axel Humming.

Kaya, along with Topaz, worked at the Academy, both helping some students, but Burl ran the whole thing, and Axel was one of his best students.

After Axel took the stage, Hines stroud over to the girls bowl.

"Zinnia Reddings."

And just like that Kaya's nightmare was realized.

**Topaz Sannchi 27 Victor of the 91st hunger games**

Kaya looked around wildly, hoping as Zinnia was, that somebody would take Zinnia's place.

But no volunteer was forthcoming.

Kaya knew what Topaz knew as well.

No girls from the Academy planned on volunteering this year.

Zinnia strode forward confidently, or so it seemed. she was average height, with blonde, almost white hair, and pale skin, the complete opposite of her tan, brown haired sister Kaya.

Both of them were exceptionally pretty, but in completely different ways.

Kaya looked shocked as Zinnia took her place, legs now shaking slightly.

Hines shook his head slightly, and then moved back towards the boys bowl.

"Glenn Osher"

The 17 year old section parted around a average height, brown haired boy, he was very tan, and the tanktop he was wearing showed off impressive muscles, he flashed a smile at one of the cameras as he walked up to the stage.

Lies, Topaz thought, despite what he seemed, this boy was no career, as far as Topaz knew, he had never stepped foot in the training center.

And still the boy smiled as he walked up onto the stage, he shook hands with Hines, and then promptly saluted the victors.

Despite himself, Topaz cracked a smile. The boy was good.

When Glenn had settled himself between Axel and Zinnia, Hines called out the last name

"Elena Triumph"

The 17 year old section parted again as Elena stepped out, She was tall, brown haired, and pretty. Topaz recognized her, he had in fact, taught a one on one lesson to her just three days before, she was a career.

Topaz knew she didnt plan on volunteering this year, and wasn't even sure if she wanted to when she was 18. But here she was. She too was putting on the same show as Glenn, smiling and waving to the crowd, blowing kisses at the camera. She was good.

The four tributes shook hands and walked off, Zinnia looking over her shoulder at Kaya, who just shook her head. She would see her on the train.

"So" Topaz started "I'm guessing you'll mentor Zinnia, Kaya?"

"Yes" Kaya replied quickly "and thats all, i'm just focusing on her."

"Ok" Says Burl, the first words Topaz had seen him speak all day "I'm taking the two careers."

Topaz thought for a second, but then let Burl take them "I'll take Glenn then."

Burl nodded, then marched off towards the car waiting to take them to the train, Topaz and Kaya following in his wake.

**Axel Humming 18 district 4.**

"Why?"

"C'mon mom" Axel said "You know I can win, its what i've always wanted."

"Axel" His mom said, struggling to stay calm "You told me just yesterday that you weren't going to volunteer! How could you do this to to me? There's 47 other tributes out there, how do you know you will be the one coming home?"

"Cuz i'm better then them Mom, nobody never trained as much as me." Axel replied, surprised that his mom was giving him this much of a hard time.

"Axel!" His mom screamed, his little sister throwing her hands over her ears "How dare you do this to me!"

Axel just looked at her "Where's dad?"

His mom grabbed his sister's hand and yanked her from the room, just as she left, her father burst into the room, smiling wildly.

"Son" He started "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks dad" Axel replied. His mom and dad were polar opposites, which is what lead them to get divorced 2 years ago, his mom hated the games, his dad loved them, and had always encouraged him to train.

"I hope your mother wasn't giving you a hard time " His dad said.

"It's fine" said Axel "She'll get over it once I come home as a victor."

"Victor" said his dad, savoring the words "That you will be."

Peacekeepers entered the room "Time to go son."

Axel walked willingly out of the room, his dad shouting out advice all the while.

Axel snorted.

Advice, like he needed it.

All he needed was his skills.

And that was enough.

**Zinnia Reddings 16 district 4**

Why, she thought, why was this happening, her odds were one in thousands.

One in thousands, And yet hers was the one picked.

Only Julia had showed up to stay goodbye. Now she was gone. She was alone.

Who else could she have expected?

She was the only friend she had, she knew that Kaya wouldn't be able to visit her, but they would have plenty of time to talk once she left for the capital.

Her dad maybe, but he had never recovered, never recovered from her mom's death, or her sister's games. Even though Kaya had returned whole, something in her dad wasn't.

Had never been since the games.

But her other friends, or so she thought, Christy, Ryan, Jerome?

None of them had shown up.

Zinnia shook her head to herself.

All she had was Kaya.

And that would have to be enough.

**Glenn Osher 17 district 4**

"Why?" Shana asked "why is this happening?"

Glenn smiled at her "It's not you fault, and besides, its ok-"

"How!" she said interrupting him "How is this ok? How are you ok? I'm the one crying and i'm not going to be risking my life."

She broke down and sobbed into his shoulder.

Peacekeepers entered the room.

"Two minutes up." One of them stated

"No!" Shana yelled "No, No N-"

They dragged her out of the room.

Glenn's parents entered the room.

His mom hugged him immediately, while his father restrained himself.

"It's ok" said Glenn, patting his mom's back as she cried into his already wet shoulder.

"It will be" said his father "You've been fishing with me enough to handle a trident, you skin fish with knives-"

Glenn interrupted him by pulling him into a tight one armed hug

"It will be ok" he said again "you don't have to say anything."

And so they didn't, they stood there hugging, until the peacekeepers took them away.

All he had to go off of was some fishing skills.

That was all he had.

And that would have to be enough.

**Elena Triumph 17 district 4**

"Why not?" Her brother Ty asked "Why not this year?"

"I would have wanted to wait, get another year of training-" Elena started but her brother interrupted her, while her parents stood in the corner.

"What's one more year?" he asked "How much can you learn in one year?"

He had a point, but still, she just didn't feel ready. Sure, she was considering volunteering next year, but still it just never appealed to her that much, the fact that despite all the training, there was always the fact that there were others who had trained. Every year there was some.

Some more then other years, but still.

And she hadn't even trained as much as the others, not as much as Axel for instance, but there was the new rule, where two tributes could win, as long as they were from the same district, so treating Axel as her enemy wasn't smart. Just yet.

She had her skills.

And that would have to be enough.


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: **Almost halfway through the reapings, but I have almost all of the reapings written out already, so the rest of the reapings should be done in maybe two weeks.

Please, please, please review!

District 5 reapings.

**Will Jordan 19 Victor of the 100th hunger games**

"Willa"

She didn't stir.

"Willa" Said Will, louder this time, shaking her shoulder.

Willa blearily opened her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly 11, we have to go."

Willa jumped out of bed, wearing a tank top and athletic shorts

"Oh well" she said "I'll change on the train."

Will followed her out of the house, and then onto the street, and through Victors Village.

Victors Village, where district 5's Victors resided in comfort, while the rest of the district lived in small, three room shacks. Or in large 20 room houses.

There wasn't a very large middle class in 5.

Will and Willa marched through the Village, until they reached the entrance, where Robini was already waiting.

She was Will's mentor, both of their mentors actually. His and Willa's.

Just last year, Will had never met Willa before. Now they were rarely seen apart.

Just last year, Will was just a normal 18 year old boy, working at the Dam like so many other 5 citizens.

And then the Hunger games. He had been voted in. By the people of district 5.

Because they thought he had a chance to win. And they had been right.

Willa was voted in for a different reason. she had been caught robbing a house. The mayor's house. Willa's family was poor, very poor, unlike Will's, which was not middle class, but at least they could feed themselves.

Willa had turned to robbing to feed her family, and it had worked, according to her.

Until she was caught. but instead of being thrown in jail, she was thrown in the hunger games.

But she too had survived, as Will's ally they had fought through the Hunger Games together.

And had won.

But the games had been easier for Willa, thought Will as they followed Robini towards the center of town.

She had taken a life once.

He had taken 5.

Which wasn't as many as some other victors, Robini for example, had taken 6.

But she hadn't even meant to take three of them.

Robini, Victor of the 87th hunger games, had accidentally poisoned her allies, the other three tributes from 5.

It was one of the first Hunger Games Will remembered.

He had been 5, and he had watched as Robini killed the lizard with a rock, showed it to her allies, and cooked it.

and they had all ate it. But Robini had been immune to the poison.

Her allies were not.

This was maybe a week into the games. There had been 10 tributes left at the time.

Then there were 7.

The next day, Robini attacked a boy from 3, stealing his knife and stabbing him with it.

Leaving him to die, and he didn't die instantly.

The rest of the day for the audience was spent watching the girl from 3 trying to save her allies life.

But she hadn't been able too.

That night, the boy passed away, and the girl killed herself, leaving only 5 tributes.

Robini, a boy from 4, a girl and a boy from 6, and a girl from 8.

The boy from 4 was injured, but still managed to kill the girl from 6 the next day, and injure the boy.

Robini had found the boy from 6 and sliced his throat. Her fifth kill.

Only 3 tributes left. The boy from 4 was killed by the girl from 8, leaving her and Robini to fight it out, and Robini won. And that was really the only time she had meant to kill. The boy from 6 wanted to die, he asked her to kill him.

The boy from 3, she hadn't meant to kill, she just needed his knife.

Will had intentionally killed all of his 5.

He could still remember there names.

Zale and Peersi from 4. Griffin from 1. Rhyder from 6.

And his first Egin from 8.

Three of them had been careers, and Rhyder had been insane.

Totally Insane.

And yet it still haunted him.

Willa touched his arm, Will looked up suddenly.

They had reached the center, he hadn't realized, they climbed the stage, and sat down.

The escort, Severus, came over to shake their hands, he had been the escort for several years after Robini had won, but eventually got sick of escorting for a district with one victor, and he had left.

But as soon as Willa and Will had won, together, he had come rushing back.

And so here he was.

The mayor was finishing off his speech about the dark days of the first rebellion, and then the dark days of the second rebellion, and how both times panem had come out, untied.

This was the mayors first reaping, as he had just recently replaced Bryan, the former Mayor who had been, along with his wife, murdered in his sleep.

The daughter of the murderer's, Willow, had been voted into the games along with Will and WIlla.

But she hadn't been as lucky as them.

Severus marched over to the girls bowl.

"Ladies first" he said. Every time. Ladies first.

The first name: "Allison Fancy."

Will recognized the name.

Allison Fancy, he had worked at the dam last year, when he was a nobody 18 year old, and she was a brilliant 13 year old, the youngest worker at the dam.

She still looked the same to Will as she marched up to the stage, her face emotionless, long brown hair in a ponytail, tucked into a green hoodie.

Ripped, dirty jeans. She clearly didn't think much of dressing up.

She tried to smile at the camera as she reached the stage, but it was clearly forced, and looked somewhat painful on her face.

Will had already written her off.

She wasn't going to win the games, that was for sure.

The second name, a boy this time "Kent Stravinsky."

He too Will recognized, but for a different reason, his name, his last name, was the important thing.

The Stravinsky's were one of the biggest supporters of the capital in district 5.

They had made a lot of enemies over the years from 5 for there support of the capital.

But now, a Stravinsky boy, reaped into the games.

The boy, Kent, was 15, probably around 5'7. With straight brown hair that fell into his face, and ears that stuck out from his head.

He wasn't going to win support for his looks, that was for sure, but his name might attract a few sponsors.

From the capital that was, many people in 5 were probably already counting down the days to his death.

Nobody here was a fan of the Stravinsky's.

Severus walked back over to the girls bowl, as Kent took his place next to Allison.

The third name "Mari Bet."

And her name, Will too recognized.

Bet. Vince Bet. Will would wager any amount of money that this was his daughter.

They didn't look alike, Mari was tall, lean, and pretty, with light brown hair that flowed over her shoulders.

Vince was short, not any taller than 5'5, balding, his face resembling a pig.

Vince Bet was the owner of several large illegal casinos.

Illegal. He was told to stop, but he did not, and here was his punishment.

His beautiful daughter into the hunger games.

Mari took her place next to Kent and Allison, starring disdainfully towards the audience.

Making it seem like she was already bored by it all.

Severus looked at her approvingly, thinking he may have gotten a good tribute compared to Kent and Allison, both of whom were several inches shorter than Mari.

The last name "Wilson Pollan"

A tall tan boy emerged from the 17 year old section, carefully picking his way through the crowd of 17 year olds.

He reminded Will of himself.

His face, calm, clear of emotion, as he strolled up to the stage.

Now this, thought Will, he had a chance.

Him and Mari.

The four tributes shook hands and were lead off towards the Justice building.

Robini, Will and Willa followed more slowly.

"Since its you guy's first year, I'll let one of you pick first." said Robini

"Pick?" asked Willa

"For who you want to mentor"

"Call first" said Willa

"Fair enough" said Will "Who do you want?"

"I'll take Mari Bet."

"You know who her dad is, right?" asked Robini

Willa nodded "And I know, it will probably make her a target, but id rather her than the two little ones or Will number two."

Will cracked a smile at that, so it had not only been him who thought he resembled Wilson.

'I'll take Wilson" He said.

"And that leaves me with Kent and Allison." said Robini "Fair enough, now lets go."

**Kent stravinsky 15 district 5 **

He supported this. Kent thought. He supported the games, he supported the capital, and Panem as a whole.

He loved watching the games, loved rooting for his favorites.

But not when he was in it.

Everybody knew that the reapings were rigged. Everybody.

And what had he done to get himself in?

He looked over to his parents, they weren't helping, being here.

He had never been close to them, his father, with his work in the capital, one of the few district people working there, and his mother, always dressing up, cleaning the house for her next big party, obsessing over the newest fads in the capital.

The only thing that united them was the capital.

And the capital was the thing tearing them apart right now.

He knew a lot about the games, probably more than anyone else going in.

But how was that going to help him? that didn't give him combat skills, or survival skills.

He loved the capital. Not for this, but for the other things they had done.

And he would have to use that to his advantage.

**Allison Fancy 14 district 5**

She supported them.

She respected them more like.

The capital.

She respected them for making something out of nothing.

But all she had wanted to do was work there.

Not fight there.

It had been her dream to work in the capital, and maybe, playing these games would be her best chance to do it.

But first she had to get past the Hunger Games.

And she needed to figure out how to do that.

All she had were her smarts, from working in the dam.

The best engineer district 5 had had in a while.

And she would have to use that to her advantage.

**Wilson Pollan 17 district 5**

He never supported them.

Never respected them.

Hated them more like.

The capital, for what they had done to the districts, every year 47 children dead.

And one alive, emerging a murderer.

Or two, as last year Will and Willa had won, and both of them had killed.

He didn't want to do that.

His father and his sister entered the room.

His sister sprinted towards him and buried her face in his shirt.

She was 8 years old. And their family had already been torn apart once.

His mother had died, in an accident at one of the dams of district 5.

18 people had died. This was 3 years ago.

Since then his father had raised he and his sister by himself, along with working at his job, which was trying to harness the power of the wind to power district 5.

It had been successful, so far, but it wasn't really needed with the hydroelectric dam.

But his father hated water, ever since his wife died, and Wilson and his sister had steadily inherited his fear.

Wilson snapped back to reality as he realized his father had said his name three times

"Yeah?"

"You can do this" He said putting his hand on Wilson's shoulder "We've sparred before, with the sickles I found, your good. As long as you get some food and water, and a sickle or a spear, something that can keep your enemy-"

He trailed off, they both realized what he had said.

Enemy.

Harmless kids from 11 other districts, with families just as he had. Now they were enemies.

And they would all have to die, all of them but one, or two.

For him to come home.

And so he steeled himself and said it.

"Enemies."

That's all they were now.

And the faster he accepted it, the faster he could win these games.

Enemies.

He could use that to his advantage.

**Mari Bet 17 district 5**

She supported him.

Her father.

The reason she was here.

He had made an empire out of his ability to bluff, and a deck of cards.

And the capital hadn't liked it.

She knew the reapings were rigged, that was why she was here.

She knew she wouldn't have any visitors.

She hadn't seen her father since yesterday, or the day before, and who else would come?

she had never met her mother, never even learned who she was.

She had few friends from her time at the casinos.

But still she had enjoyed it, she had inherited her father's ability to bluff, and his slight of hand.

But that didn't matter now, now what mattered was your ability to find food, your ability to find shelter.

Your ability to kill.

And she had none of that.

Nothing that she could use.

Except her bluffing, and her lies.

And that's all the advantage she had.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:** Halfway done with the reapings.  
>I don't want to impose, but please review, reviews motivate me to write more!<p>

District 6 reapings.

**Samuel Rider 34 Victor of the 84th hunger games**

He didnt want to be here.

This place, where the worst moments of his life all came together.

Age 14, watching his father being publicly executed, for being out after curfew.

out after curfew for getting medicine for his dying wife.

Age 15, watching his only brother being publicly executed for trying to steal money for his mother, until his mother died and he was caught, leaving Samuel to provide for his younger sister Feroze.

Age 17, reaped into the games himself, but winning them, killing nine people.

Nine.

And then at age 18, standing on the stage and watching his only remaining sibling, Feroze, getting reaped into the hunger games, as a 15 year old girl. He had made sure she prepared herself a little bit, with their families track record, it was almost a lock she would end up going in.

He knew the reapings were rigged, so he enrolled her in the training center in 6.

A small dingy place, with few weapons and two trainers.

They had asked him to teach, but he stayed as far away as possible.

But Feroze had gone there, for a year, until she was reaped.

But she too had overcome the odds and come home victorious.

But she had paid the price, he thought, as he wheeled her up on stage in her wheelchair.

Her enter lower body, paralysed for life, because of the girl from 3, who in the finale of her games, struck her in the spine with an axe. And paralysed her lower body.

And he wheeled her every year, onto the stage, to watch the next four tributes from 6 get reaped to die.

Because after Feroze, in the 16 years after her victory.

Nobody else had come home from the games. The only two victors from 6 were from the same family.

He sat down in his chair, next to the mayor, or mayoress, as she was the only female mayor in all of Panem.

She stood up and spoke, about the first rebellion, the dark days as it was called, and how Panem had rebounded, creating the hunger games.

As if that was why they survived.

And then, after 74 glorious years of the hunger games, how the upstart Katniss Everdeen had started a rebellion.

How she, along with all of the other victors, 74 years worth, were killed. Exterminated. Obliterated. Wiped out.

And how, again Panem rebounded, and brought the hunger games back.

This was the 26th year of their creation.

The mayoress sat down again.

The district 6 escort took the stage. A 50 year old woman named Daffodil, though with all her grotesque, supposedly beautiful makeup, she could easily pass for 75.

80 even.

She stood there looking out at the crowd below here, maybe expecting some type of applause.

None was forthcoming, she should know that by now.

After a moment or two she clapped her hands together and strode towards the boys bowl.

She slid her hand through it several times, maybe hoping to increase the suspense, and then withdrew a name.

"Brunel Brash" she said.

There was a whoop, as an average height, but very muscular boy burst out from the 17 year old section, he had brown hair that was full of hair gel, a striped tanktop and athletic shorts.

He ran all the way to the stage, and leaped on to it in a single bound.

He had trained Samuel thought, that much was for sure, unless he was just a very, very skilled actor.

He had potential though. Definite potential.

Once Brunel had settled down, and Daffodil had stopped casting admiring looks at him, glad for once she had gotten a good tribute, she moved towards the girls bowl. And selected a name.

"Reta Castellano." she called out loudly.

A 17 year old girl walked up the aisle, light brown hair, sparkling green eyes, she had dressed the part as well, a sky blue dress, and matching shoes. She shook her head to herself several times, and then climbed the stage, meeting everybody's eyes and staring them down.

She had venom in her gaze thought Samuel.

Dimitry Corcoran was the next name called out, a short boy emerged from the 16 year old section, he had dark, almost black skin, dark black hair that seemed to grow straight out from his head, He was wearing ragged dark green pants, a brown jacket, both of them ripped.

He, unlike Reta before him, met nobody's eyes and stared at the ground.

Then the last tribute was a 17 year old girl named Joanna Coal, she had jet black hair, a pale complexion, and hazel eyes.

She smiled at the cameras, waved to the people of district 6, playing the crowd.

All four of them shook hands, and then were forcibly marched towards the justice building, where they would say their final goodbyes.

Samuel and Feroze stood, or rather sat in Feroze's place on the stage, as the crowd dispersed except for those who wished to see the tributes.

"Your turn to pick first." Samuel stated, His sister flashed him a smile, despite losing control of her lower body, this hadn't hurt her spirit

"Ahh yes" she replied, still smiling, "Remind me, why am I going first, for the fourth time in a row?"

"Because my tributes haven't survived the bloodbath in four years." He said quietly

It was a sick game they played, whoever had a tribute that lasted longest got to pick first the next year, but it helped them treat this as the capital wanted them to treat it. A game.

And this is what kept them sane.

"I'm sorry brother dear" said Feroze "I didn't hear you, mind speaking louder?"

"Because my tributes haven't survived the bloodbath in four years." He said, nearly yelling.

"Ahh yes" she said again "and now, how many tributes of mine reached the top 16 last year?'

"Both" he grunted.

"Exactly" she replied "So thats why im going first again, isn't it brother dear?"

Samuel just shook his head "Pick then Feroze."

"I want Reta."

"I'll take Brunel" replied Samuel "He's trained hasn't he?"

Feroze nodded, "A good amount I think, i've visited that center a couple times, and everytime hes been there."

"I'll take him then, you?"

"Dimitry.'

"Ok then, Joanna for me."

"Lets head to the train brother dear."

**Brunel Brash 17 district 6**

Why were they here? Brunel thought. His parents never wanted anything to do with him, they paid his training fee and that was it.

"Why are you here?" Brunel asked.

"To say a temporary goodbye to our son" said his father "The future victor of the 101st hunger games."

Brunel couldn't help himself, he cracked a smile, it had an odd way of playing out, he had told everybody he planned to volunteer next year, but not this year, and yet he had been reaped.

But what was one year?

Not that much to him to be honest, one more year of struggling through classes at school, one more year of working mindlessly at the automobile factory.

It didn't matter to him, any of it. What mattered was the games.

So he said goodbye to his parents, hugged his mother, shook hands with his father, but it wasn't goodbye.

It was see-you-soon. I'll be back.

**Reta Castellano 17 district 6**

Why was he here?

Reta hated her brother.

Why was he here she thought again.

He had torn her family apart, her sweet lovable rebellious family.

Her father had fought in the second rebellion, on the rebels side. The losing side, along with his mother, her grandma.

His father, her grandfather, had fought for the capital.

None of them had been killed, they had moved past it, her father used to talk to his dad occasionally, they remained civil enough.

Until her brother, started openly supporting the games, getting her father arrested.

He had been in jail for three months. Reta hadn't seen him once.

And now her brother was here, along with her grandparents, and her mom.

Her grandma and her mom stood on one side of the room.

Her brother and grandfather stood on the other side.

"Reta, I-" her brother started.

She cut him of.

"Get out" she stated evenly.

"Reta" he said again, she started to speak but he held up his hand, and she shut her mouth

"Reta i'm proud of you, and you should be proud too, of getting this chance to fight for our districts honor, the honor of Panem."

Reta burst out laughing, despite of her self.

"The honor of Panem?" she said "This is the honor of Panem, getting innocent children killed?"

Her brother started again but she screamed out loud.

He stopped.

"Get out!" she screamed.

A peacekeeper stuck his head in the door

"Is there a problem?"

"This, this person, is abusing my daughter." said her mom. "She wants him out."

The peacekeeper entered the room, followed by another, my brother made a move towards me and the peacekeeper lowered his shoulder and hit him into the wall.

Her grandfather moved towards him and the other peacekeeper took out a baton, and almost casually, struck him in the head.

He collapsed to the floor.

Her brother started yelling, and the peacekeeper took him out as well.

They picked up the limp bodies of her brother and grandfather and carried them out.

Her grandma burst into tears.

Reta moved forwards and hugged her tightly.

"I'll come back" she said into her hair "I promise."

Her mother came forward and hugged her too and they stood there, the three of them, hugging in the middle of the floor until the peacekeepers came and took them

"Goodbye" said Reta silently "Goodbye."

But it wasn't goodbye, she told herself, it was see-you-soon. I'll be back.

**Dimitry Corcoran 16 district 6**

Why werent they here he thought pacing the room, he knew they would come, but they weren't here.

His father, his mother.

his 5 brothers.

and his little sister Skye. Yet none of them were here.

But then the door opened, and in they came, Silven and Skye in the lead.

They were the youngest at 8 and 6 respectively, then there was Jenning, 14 years old but already taller than Dimitry, Jenning's twin, Glim, who was one of the three people Dimitry was taller then in the family.

Then there was his two older brothers, Horan and Cal. They were both 19, towering over everybody else in the room.

His parents came last, His dad, hair already gone from his head, even though he was only 40 years old.

Stress did that to you, running the automobile shop, along with raising seven children.

Skye reached him and buried her face in his shirt.

Silven too ran up and hugged him. Both of them broke down and sobbed.

"It's ok" he told the rest of his family "you don't have to cry too."

A lame attempt at a joke, any other day his brothers would have made fun of him for it, but not today.

Jenning and Glim walked up, identical despite the fact that Jenning was about a head taller.

"You can do it Dim" they said together "We know you can."

Dimitry stood up and hugged them both. Then Horan and Cal.

And finally his parents, his dad first then his mom.

His whole life he had looked forward to the moment when he might be taller than her, but even now, at 16, she still had arguably an inch on him. Now he might never grow taller than her.

"You can do it" she said "I know you can."

He hugged them all again, and then watched as the peacekeepers dragged them out of the room, rather forcibly. And then it started.

His father pushed one off his mom, and got a punch in the stomach for it.

Jenning like he always did, got right in the middle of it, punching one of them in the head, he got shoved against the wall, the peacekeeper drew back his fist to punch him, but Horan got there first, tackling him into the door, which burst open revealing a small group of people standing outside of it.

Dimitry saw several people he knew, his neighbor Mr. Brown, with his prosthetic leg, his son Neil who was Jenning's best friend, his uncle Trith, or silver as he had used to call him, because of his silver hair, and several of his cousins, when they saw what was happening they too burst into the room, and Dimitry lept forward as well, tackling a peacekeeper that was whaling on Glim, Glim lept up and kicked the peacekeeper in the head.

"Go Dimitry" yelled his father, Dimitry lept forward, but was caught in the back of the head by a Baton. And he blacked out.

**Joanna Cole 17 district 6**

Why werent they here she thought.

Why?

Joanna's family was normal enough, on the surface, but below it, they were one of the most rebellious families in 6.

Because of the games.

Her sister Joy, Her then 18 year old aunt, her cousins, Glitter and Jim, three second cousins. She didn't even remember their names. All dead, killed by the games, in the past 10 years.

And her family had worked underground, trying to usurp the capitals rule.

But why werent they here?

That's when the peacekeepers burst into her room.

Three of them. All carrying guns.

"Change of plans" one of them barked "we're leaving now."

"But-" Joanna began but the peacekeepers cut her off, as two of them each grabbed an arm and dragged her into the hallway.

The hallway was full of chaos.

Inside and around one of the tributes rooms, a full on fight was taking place.

Joanna saw the tribute, Dimitry, crumbled on the floor, as around him what seemed to be his family was taking on peacekeepers.

Through a window she saw outside, a full blown riot was taking place.

The citizens of district 6 had revolted.

Inside here, the peacekeepers were to get them to the trains alive.

Several guns went off at once.

Two older men fell. One with a prosthetic leg, the other with shiny silver hair. Both of them had to be over 50, both dark, almost black skin.

The one with the silver hair resembled Dimitry.

The third gun that went off was held by a large boy, he couldn't be older than 20.

A peacekeeper collapsed.

The doors of the justice building broke open, by a crowd of citizens.

But behind them, were hundreds of peacekeepers, gunning them down.

The center of town seemed to be controlled by the peacekeepers, and most of the citizens had retreated.

She was dragged down the stairs and outside, one of the peacekeepers holding her collapsed, maybe hit by a arrant gun shot.

Another one took his place.

A pair of peacekeepers holding Dimitry caught up to them.

In front of them, Joanna recognized Brunel and Reta, both conscious, being lead by peacekeepers.

"Get them to the train" said one peacekeeper "This is under control."

They reached the train, as they were about the put her on the train, Joanna saw her chance, and kicked the peacekeeper loosely holding her arm in the groin. He collapsed, and she sprinted away, but she heard footsteps behind her, speeding up.

And then she blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Note:** Sorry to those of you who have, hopefully, been reading this for the long wait.

District 7 reapings

**Adrianna Lancing 35 victor of the 82nd hunger games**

Adrianna reached the stage before anyone else.

Not even Carius, the old district 7 escort.

It gave her time to prepare.

Adrianna was district 7's second, and last victor.

She had won 19 years ago this year, as a 16 year old.

The other victor well, she didn't want to think about him.

Her mentor, Harris Goldberg.

A career in an outer district, as she thought of him.

He had won the 78th hunger games, as an 18 year old.

He had killed 15 tributes.

15 kids.

He had volunteered for his games, and thoroughly enjoyed it every step of the way.

Enjoyed the killing.

He enjoyed killing all three of his district partners.

Both of the girls were 12 years old.

He was sick, and yet she owed him her life, he had chosen her, over the other three tributes, to bring home from the games.

And he had succeeded. But, choosing her over the other three tributes wasn't hard, as none of them were over 14, and all had died by the time day 1 was over.

None of them from his Academy, for after he won his games he opened a center, smaller than the ones in 1, 2 and 4, maybe only having ten students a year. But he taught them skills with axes and spears, the two weapons he had used in his games, and he taught them bloodthirstiness.

Her games had passed slowly though, with only eight tributes dying the first day, and none the next two, The careers that year had been small, maybe 5 tributes.

By the end of the first week, half of the tributes were still alive.

And thats when the gamemakers intervened.

A tornado, and earthquake, a volcano, all over the span of three days, took out 12 tributes.

12 left.

And thats when Adrianna first killed, throwing a knife into the back of the large boy from 6.

The next day, she killed again, this time a hatchet to the neck of a girl from 8.

Three days later, there were 7 tributes left.

Her, three careers, a boy from 8, a boy from 9 and a girl from 10.

One of the careers died in an avalanche that collapsed the system of caves in which they were hiding, destroying all of their supplies.

The next day a girl from 1 died from eating poisonous fruit.

And Adrianna took out the third career, a boy from 4, by throwing a knife into his back and running before he even realized she was there. 5 minutes later he was dead.

The next three days had passed slowly, and then the feast was called.

Adrianna still had nightmares about it.

How the girl from 10 broke Adrianna's leg, stabbed her in the stomach, and cut of two off her fingers in there fight.

Fingers, she thought as she flexed her hand, that she hadn't let the capitol replace.

The girl from 10 was about to kill Adrianna when the boy from 8 threw a spear into her back.

3 left, the boy from 8 had then killed the boy from 9, and had thought Adrianna's cannon had already fired.

But it hadn't.

Adrianna managed to throw a knife into the already injured boy from 8. He collapsed, and they both lay there, hoping to outlast the other. And Adrianna outlasted him.

And won.

She was shaken out of her games as Harris walked onto the stage, heavily favoring his left leg. The only injury he had suffered in his games was an arrow to the right leg in the final battle, it had severed a tendon and he had never really recovered.

He limped forward and sat down heavily in his seat.

He didnt even look her way, he knew she resented him, resented him for what he had done in his games, and for the district.

Harris was a patriot. And his power in district 7 had steadily grown until he was basically in charge of the peacekeeper force in 7.

Adrianna was a rebel. she resented the capital, things they had done to her, and her fellow victors.

Things she couldn't speak of. And making her kill was only the first on the list.

Again she forced herself out of her thoughts as the mayor sat down. Speech finished.

A speech she had memorized word for word.

Carius, the escort, stood up and without fanfare, stroud over to the girl's bowl.

He swirled his hand through the bowl several times, then pulled out a name.

"Emily Power."

A small mousy looking 12 year old stepped forward, legs shaking, several of her friends cried out in horror, but she just shook her head at them, making her way to the stage as fast as her shaking legs could carry her. So not fast at all.

Once she reached the stage Carius moved over to the boys bowl, he quickly withdrew a name and announced "Christopher Gome"

Another 12 year old, Christopher was quite smaller than Emily, but before he took a step towards the stage, A voice rang out "I volunteer."

The voice was deep and gravelly.

And then a monster of a boy stepped out of the 18 year old section.

He had to be 6'6, thickly built, in fact, everything about him was thick, as short thick neck, thick legs, a pair of muscular thick arms.

"I volunteer" He announced again.

Christopher was so surprised he fell right down and fainted, and the boy slowly made his way towards the stage, taking his time.

He was even bigger up close, thought Adrianna, taller than Harris himself, who was the largest man Adrianna had ever met.

"Your name son?" Carius asked in his quiet voice.

"Yukon Rean." He announced loudly.

Carius stared at him for a minute or two, and then moved back towards the girls bowl.

"Laren Morgan."

A girl of about average height emerged from the 17 year old section, blonde hair, blue eyes, she was pretty, that was for sure, and her face registered surprize, for a moment or two, but then it was quickly replaced by a look of snarky laziness, she wore a blood red dress, which Adrianna found fitting for the occasion, the girl casually meandered her way to the stage, and climbed up it, before taking her place in between tiny Emily, and huge Yukon.

She faced the crowd proudly, smiling slightly.

Carius moved back towards the boys bowl, for the last name.

"William Griffin."

A boy of average height emerged from the 16 year old section, he was incredibly handsome, Adrianna could see that from there, with stormy gray eyes, a tan complexion, short messy black hair.

He had a mischievous smirk plastered on his face, like he had expected this, and enjoyed it.

Adrianna was glad he felt this way, because it was probably the last time he would feel like it for the rest of his life, whether he won the games or not.

He climbed the stage, all of the tributes shook hands, and this is when little Emily made a run for it, sprinting towards the crowd, before she had even taken 10 steps she was caught, and none to carefully carried towards the justice building.

The rest of the tributes followed.

Adrianna and Harris were left alone on the stage, and for the first time that day, Arianna met his gaze.

"The older boy" she asked "Is he trained?"

"Both of the older ones actually" said Harris "Laren and Yukon, Yukon's the best tribute i've ever trained, and Laren isn't too bad herself, though she didnt plan on going in this year."

"I'm staying away from them then" said Adrianna "I'll take William and the younger girl, you can have your precious careers."

And she stalked off, without waiting for Harris to follow.

**Yukon Rean 18 district 7**

It had finally happened, Yukon thought, just as Harris had said, the rush he had gotten from volunteering was unreal. And this was only the beginning.

His parents walked in, They had not only supported his training, but encouraged it.

"Son" his dad said "You take care of yourself, you hear? you come back to us."

his mother nodded her head.

Yukon grunted in agreement, and then just stood there, watching them.

After a while, his dad got up and left, his mom made a move to hug him, but then thought better of it, letting her arms drop to her sides, she shook her head, and left.

And Yukon was alone. Like he wanted to be. He had never needed friends, or family, they were just obstacles in the way of training. And he had trained, almost everyday of his life, since he was 13, he had already broken the 6'0 mark then, and continued growing, adding muscle, until he was the tallest person he knew.

Taller even the Harris, the best victor they had ever had.

Adrianna, Yukon didn't think much of her, she had won by accident, a mistake.

His victory would not be a mistake.

And he wanted everybody to know that.

**Laren Morgan 17 district 7**

It had finally happened, what her parents, her trainer, her uncle, had been grooming her for 4 years to do.

To go into the games.

To win the money that would take them out of poverty and catapult them into one of the nicest houses in all of district 7.

But it hadn't happened as she had expected.

She had been reaped a year early.

Her parents, her uncle, and two of her cousins came into the room.

The only family she had.

The rest of her father's family had steadily moved away from their capital-loving brother, and his younger brother.

She had never met her grandparents. The only two cousins she had ever met were the ones standing before her.

Both of them, Jackson and Genevieve, ran up and hugged her. They were stick thin, sickly looking, simply from the lack of food. They lived in the poorest part of district 7, there was rarely enough food to go around.

Jackson was 14, Genevieve was 12.

She hugged them both, saying they knew she would come back.

Her mother hugged her next, then her uncle, then finally her father.

"You know what it takes" He said "What's one more year?"

she nodded her head, but couldn't help the tears filling her eyes.

"But what if I don't?" she started asking "What if I don't come back?"

"No, no, no" her uncle said "You can't afford to think like that honey, be strong for us."

And she would be strong, for her chance, a chance at a better future. And a better future for her poor thin cousins.

She would be strong

And she wanted everybody to know it.

**William Griffin 16 district 7**

"No"

"No" Said his mother as soon as she walked in the room "No, it cant be"

"But it is" He had replied "And you have to accept it and move past it."

His father nodded, along with his sister.

"You have a chance William" said his father "A Fighting chance, a better chance the most people from other districts, just stay away from Yukon, and the remainder of the career pack, because I assume he will be in it."

William nodded

"And you can attract sponsors" said his sister "We all know you have the looks for it."

William nodded, smilingly, thinking of all the times his sister had called him ugly.

A lot more then when she had called him handsome.

But it was true, he did know how to play to crowd, to win sponsors, and all this was, was, in the eyes of the capitol, a big game.

And he was going to play. And he knew everybody would know that.

**Emily Power 12 district 7**

"No" She said to herself "No, no, no, no, no, no."

Yet if you said it, it didn't mean it would be true.

And so she sat there in silence. Silence as her family, her parents paraded through.

Silence was her biggest weapon. She stayed out of peoples way, she stayed silent, and they didn't bother her.

But that wouldn't help her in the games, she wouldn't be able to stay out of everybody's way. Staying silent wouldn't prevent them from killing her.

But she was only 12. How could anybody kill a 12 year old?

She knew, at the bloodbath, maybe the next few days, people would pass her up for older, stronger opponents.

If she even managed to live that long.

And everybody knew she wouldnt.


	9. Chapter 9

**NOTE: **Again, sorry for the long wait, I will be better at posting more regularly, If anyone is reading.

If you are reading, please, please review!

**District** **8 reapings**

**Leann Elro 37 Victor of the 81st hunger games**

20 years later, and it was still the same.

Her against the world.

20 years later, and she was still the only victor district 8 had had since the rebellion.

The only surviving one since the start of the games, 101 years ago.

She had won at 17, tall, muscled, but no where near as physically skilled as the other girl from her district, and one of the boys.

Both joined a career pack, that, with them, was 12 tributes strong.

Both of them managed a 10 in training.

She got an 8. An 8 after a year of work at the training academy. A year and even then she hadn't wanted to go into the games. She had done it on the off chance she would, and it had paid off.

In the bloodbath, the cornucopia was almost immediately surrounded by careers.

She escaped with a small backpack.

18 died at the bloodbath, including the younger boy from her district.

Later, at night, she killed a boy from 10 with a rock, and stole his supplies, which included an axe.

By day 4, she had still only killed once, but there were only 20 of them left, but still 10 careers.

Then she had met Jack and Maria from 9, and allied with them.

How they had together ambushed 4 careers, including both of her district partners, and killed them all.

Her second kill was the boy from her district.

16 tributes were left, and the next day, a pair of careers and a boy from 3 all died, which left 13.

And then, Maria had been killed by the girl from 11, Jack had screamed, and ran after the girl, deserting Leann.

The girl from 11 died later that day. So did Jack.

10 tributes had been left at that point.

The next day, low on food, injured from her fights, Leann ran into a pair of the 4 remaining careers, both injured, but so was she.

But she emerged alive, killing them both, and bringing them into the top 8 and a feast at the cornucopia.

Her, two careers, the other boy from 9, a boy and a girl from 3, a girl from 7, and finally a boy from 12.

She came late, because she wasn't able to walk well on her left leg, by the time she got there, the boy from 9 and the girl from 7 were both dead.

The boy from 12 attacked her, slicing her stomach, stabbing her in the back, but the need to live kept her on her feet, and she killed the boy from 12.

And then finally, the last tribute, the girl from 1.

And Leann killed her as well.

A victory that had left her scarred, thought Leann, and unable to really coach her tributes to victory.

Because she didn't want them to win.

The real blessing would be to die, die at the bloodbath, die quickly.

A quick death. That was the best you could ask for in the games.

And that's what you wanted, you didn't want to win, because winning only led to more deaths, deaths of your tributes. Deaths of your family from the president, because you didn't do what he asked.

It was best to die fast, but when they died, she still felt responsible.

And so she battled, her first years she had tried, desperately, to bring a victor home, and she had come close, three times her tributes had reached the top 2.

Three times they had failed. The year after her victory, the 82nd hunger games, When Adrianna won, one of her tributes had reached the final two.

But he thought Adrianna was dead. And she wasn't. And she killed him.

Then, in back to back years, the 87th and the 88th, she had tributes reach the finale, both had died by the future victors.

And she had stopped caring, stopped trying, started drinking heavily, losing herself, until three years ago, she quit, and hadn't touched a drop since, hoping to propel herself to find another victor. But still district 8's only victor was her.

But this year, she had kept telling herself, this year would be different.

And they were still all the same.

The district 8 mayor stood up, Hari, and made his typical address in his typical tired way.

30 years on the job had tired him out, here he was 60 years old, almost completely bald except for a ring of wild white hair around the back of his head, and nobody had taken the job.

He spoke, about the hunger games, the rebellions, the capital, mixing up names and getting things wrong as he normally did.

She shook her head.

Then the escort took the stage, a new one this year, in a constant parade of escorts for district 8, the only one staying for more then two years was the one who had escorted her.

This one was young, maybe younger than 20, but it was hard to tell with all the makeup.

She strode over to the girls bowl first.

Different mentors did it differently, but girls often chose girls first, and boys often boys.

The first name she called out in her strange, bubbly voice was Carrie Eastwood.

A girl strode out slowly from the 14 year old section, a high forehead, blonde hair that was wavy, floating of around her shoulders, she was dressed in a blindly white dress, with her neck adorned in a golden chain.

She was rich, that was for sure, but money didn't buy you victory in the games.

She walked slowly, in what Leann realized were several inch high high heels, to the stage, and then tripped trying to climb the stairs.

Leann leapt forward and helped her to her feet, trying to brush of the now dirty white dress.

"I can do it myself" said Carrie Eastwood, in a bossy, condescending voice, "I don't need your help."

It was a voice that was used to making people listen.

Leann wanted to reply, fine, get yourself through the games then, but held her tongue, and just nodded her head.

No use starting out on the wrong foot.

The escort shook her head at Carrie, accusingly, Leann hoped it was about her attitude toward her mentor, But she had a feeling it was more like 'Keep you dress clean girl, and learn to walk in those shoes.'

Leann sat back down as he escort moved over to the boys bowl.

"Ryan Ferris" She called out.

Another 14 year old, The boy was small, black hair that was messy and kept falling into his face as he walked, a 12 year old boy leapt forward and tried to pull him back, but the boy shook his head and kept walking, head down, towards the stairs.

He plodded up it and then took his place next to Carrie, not saying a thing.

The escort almost ran towards the girls bowl, hoping, Leann thought, to get a tribute to replace these two before her.

"Lizbeth Joe" she called out

And the 14 year old section parted again.

Leann saw the escort throw her hands up into the sky.

The girl walked out, she had dark hair, and very pale skin, but slightly taller than both Ryan and Carrie, Carrie who had let out a gasp when the girl was reaped.

Maybe there was some history there.

Lizbeth Joe climbed the stairs, and stumbled forward toward Carrie, pulling her into a tight hug.

Friends maybe, though Leann, that wouldn't be good, even with the rule where two tributes could win, friends in the games were not good.

But at least they had an ally.

But three 14 years old, that was not good.

The last name was called out. "Chris Feral."

This one, was, luckily enough, not 14, but two years older, at 16.

Like his last name, This boy looked rather feral, long, messy blonde hair, ripped jeans, a rather dirty white tank top, that showed off a thin, but muscled upper body, on his head was a red Aviators cap.

He took two slow steps forward, looked around as if he was going to run, then shrugged his shoulders and kept walking forward.

Nonchalant, was the word the described him, he didn't care he was dressed in ripped clothes, or wearing a fur hat in almost 60 degree weather.

He reached the stage, and then, on his own accord, shook the hands of each of the tributes, patting Ryan's shoulder, even pulling Lizbeth into a hug, though it looked like they didn't know each other.

The rest of the tributes shook hands, and they were all lead off as the crowd dispersed.

And Leann walked toward the train.

**Chris Feral 16 district 8**

Nobody.

Nobody was here.

He hadn't expected his parents, after they threw him and his little brother, who like his new district partner, was named Ryan, Hs brother Ryan would be 14 right now as well, if he was still alive.

He and his brother had been thrown out, due to the fact that they were the eldest children, and there were simply too many mouths to feed.

He had been 12 then.

And they had survived, building around them a group of other outcasts, orphans, and street rats.

They had grown together, stealing to life, and then selling the items, after a while, some of them even took jobs, though their primary source of food was theft.

It had been a good 4 years, until they were found.

Found by the peacekeepers.

He had ran, trying to pull Ryan with him, but they had caught him. His little brother may have gotten away, but he had no idea.

There had been 12 of them there.

He and two others, Fen and Christi, had been caught, and held in jail.

Fne and Christi were too be held in jail for a period of 2 years.

But, expecting him to be the leader, the peacekeepers, they had forced him into the games.

Making sure he was to be reaped.

But he didn't know what had happened to the others.

He had seen bodies, at least 4, but he had not determined whether his brother was among them.

And know he would never know.

He could say goodbye of course, during his interview, or even when he was in the games.

But he couldn't be sure whether his brother could even hear.

Fen and Christi, they were alive, them he could say goodbye too, during his interview.

But the others, at the most 5 of them, they still could be out there.

Waiting, Waiting for him, or the others too come back.

Including him. But by now they would know.

He wasn't coming back.

**Lizbeth Joe 14 district 8**

Everybody was here. Her parents, Her brother Sam, Her friends Fra and Ti.

All here to say goodbye.

And none of them pretended it wasn't goodbye, because what chance did a small, poor, thin 14 year old girl have in the games?

None. None at all.

And the pain was doubled because her best friend, Her best friend in all of district 8, was in the games too.

She had an ally, that much was for sure, but, Carrie didn't have any more experience than she herself did, less even because of how rich Carrie was, she didn't even know how to scrounge for food.

That was one advantage Lizbeth had, she knew how to scrounge for food, except, scrounging for food in a city was very different from scrounging food in nature.

And nature is what district 8 lacked.

Sure some of the richer people had gardens, Carrie for example, had shown Lizbeth her garden, but in secret, without telling her parents, who didn't approve of the poor thin girl who would give influence there rich perfect girl the wrong way.

And that was the only time she had been in nature.

A garden for a few seconds. What chance did she have in surviving in the woods for two weeks?

And the answer, like always was none.

Fra hugged her, Ti said it would be ok, Her brother patted her back, Her parents spoke soothing words, but none of it replaced the reality that she was living.

The reality that she would never see them again. .

And so she smiled and hugged them , telling them it would be ok, but deep down she knew, they all knew.

She wasn't coming back.

**Ryan Ferris 14 district 8**

He didn't care that they were here.

His family.

8 of them.

His parents, then his 5 siblings.

Simon, the oldest at 18, Kerrs, a year younger then Simon, but just as big as him.

Both of them could have volunteered for him.

Neither of them did.

Then the two girls, 16 year old twins Risel and Rachel.

Both of them were still taller then him, at 14.

Then finally, his only sibling he actually loved, and to be honest, he thought, the only one that actually loved him.

Brince, 12 years old, just under 5 feet.

He would miss Brince, he would miss his parents.

But the rest of his siblings, all they had done was overshadow him.

Simon, he won the wrestling competition at his school.

The day after, Ryan had won the sprinting contest, at 14, up against both Kerrs and Simon, and both of his sisters.

They all went to the same school, but nobody cared.

All they would say was how lucky it was that he won the first event of the day, before everybody was warmed up.

Nobody had cared but Brince, who bragged to all his friends that Ryan was the youngest but the fastest kid in the whole school.

He had been overshadowed all his life by his older siblings, but here was one thing they couldn't beat him at.

He would be famous, Winner of the 101st hunger games.

Then they couldn't overshadow him.

Thats what he would do he thought.

And so he hugged goodbye to Brince and his parents, nodded goodbye to the rest.

But it couldn't be goodbye, he told himself.

It wouldn't be goodbye.

**Carrie Eastwood 14 district 8**

She wished they didn't come.

Her parents, her two older sisters.

It would just make it harder, harder to say the goodbye they all knew was inevitable.

They all knew she wouldn't be coming back.

In fact, Carrie thought wryly, it was because of how her parents had taken care of her that she had no chance.

She had never wanted anything, food warmth, shelter, clothing, all of it had been provided in abundance.

Which put her at a disadvantage now, because she would need all of those things in the arena.

And she would have to find them herself.

And she knew she wouldn't be able to. She knew that now. Hence why she wasn't coming back.

Sure, she could survive for awhile, run away from the bloodbath, with Lizbeth as her ally, because she was sure they would ally, they could hide, survive for a little.

But it wouldnt last long, they would starve, or die of dehydration, get killed by a fellow tribute, or worse get killed by a mutt.

Or by the gamemakers, a flood, a tornado, a earthquake.

Anything really.

"Carrie" Her sister said.

Carrie looked at her for a second, and then burst into tears.

it wouldn't be goodbye she kept saying.

It wouldn't be goodbye.


End file.
